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Adidas teams up with charity to raise funds for local schools and Haiti rebuilding efforts

January 19, 2011 | 12:40
pm

Adidas has paired up with Soles4Souls — a nonprofit that's donated nearly 13 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes to more than 125 countries — to raise funds for Southern California high schools and to support rebuilding efforts in Haiti.

Saturday, the "This Is Not a Shirt" project kicks off with an event at 2 p.m. at the Adidas store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

At the event, which is open to the public, the limited-edition “This Is Not A Shirt” T-shirt will go on sale for $20 — with 100% of the sales price going to local high schools and Haiti rebuilding efforts.

The shirts — emblazoned with a graphic of a sneaker sole with wings over the words "Let Your Sole Fly" — will also be available at Adidas Sport Performance, Originals and Factory stores in Southern California.

From the purchase price, $10 goes to Soles4Souls’ Haiti efforts and $10 goes to a local high school of the buyer’s choosing.

For extra fun, the shirts can be registered online at WearsMyShirt.com and digitally sent to friends. "Shirt threads" will be tracked on the site, and each school’s progress will be shared by way of a leader-board system.

And yes, there will be a winning school — with categories for the number of shirts purchased and sent, video or picture submissions, use for donated funds and "overall program enthusiasm and participation." The winning school will receive a grand-prize event in February.

"This program is all about helping kids help themselves and their high schools," said Nic Vu, vice president of retail for Adidas North America. "We're providing the incentive and avenue for young people to work together to raise money for two great causes. It's fun to realize that something as basic as a T-shirt can generate this amount of positive action."